


(You're Like) The Son I Never Had

by TheCityLightShow



Series: Sleep Well, Petey-pie [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Quite a bit of angst, The Infinity Guantlet, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-27
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-07 20:32:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11631357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCityLightShow/pseuds/TheCityLightShow
Summary: They waterboard him to the point where the battery in his chest delivers him electric shocks, but still he just won’t die. If he gets out of this alive, it must be for a reason – and Tony is going to find it if it kills him.In which Tony won't let anything hurt Peter Parker, even if it's going to break his heart. (Inspired by Homecoming and the new Infinity War bits coming to light - can be seen as cannon compliant given the nature of the gauntlet.)





	(You're Like) The Son I Never Had

**Author's Note:**

> So this has been floating around my head for a few days and I've just sat down and written it in one shot... I hope y'all like it!

The first time Tony holds his son, it is with no small amount of panic. Happy had found the child left in the lobby of the tower, a birth certificate, apology and a DNA test left tucked into the basket with him. He has a small amount of fluffy brown hair, and he’s still sleeping soundly even as Pepper makes him pick the child up. The weight of this small baby in his arms makes him want to scream – this was never the plan, Tony can’t be trusted with himself, why would he be trusted with a _child_ – but the child snuffles and curls into him, and the metaphorical ice fortress around his heart melts a little. The child blinks awake with dark dark eyes, and doesn’t cry.

Maybe Tony can do this.

 

“Come on Petey-pie, if we don’t get your hair washed then there’s no story!” Tony chides gently, and the two-and-a-half-year-old standing in the bath tub looked comically horror striken.

“Stowy?” he asks, lower lip beginning its signature tremble, and it needs to stop _right now_ , or Tony is going to fold like a bad hand of poker.

“Hair wash.” Tony replies, holding up the no-tears bottle of shampoo. Peter eyes it with the wariness only a toddler can muster, but plonks his ass down in the few inches of water and grumpily allows Tony to wash his hair. Once he’s done though, all is forgiven, and Peter is hiding beneath a towel, giggling and giggling as Tony tickles him and peppers the bits of him he can reach with kisses.

“Dada, no!” The kid giggles, but Tony doesn’t relent until Peter eyes are starting to droop. He cradles the child on his hip, and wonders how there was ever a split thought of giving this up. The boy sleepily allows Tony to help him into some pjs, and is sleeping when Tony sets him down. There’ll be no bedtime story tonight, but Tony still sits on the edge of the bed a while, treasuring the moment. Peter will be growing up in no time.

 

Peter’s first day of pre-school is tense.

The boy had woken Tony up ridiculously early, excited and bouncy and far too eager. He insists upon one of his special shirts – _you wear a suit when you go to school daddy_ – and Tony is too in love with his little boy to argue. Peter’s rucksack is unpacked and repacked to make sure he has his _best_ pencils and in the pencil case that Auntie Nat brought by, and he has his juicebox for break time. He looks so cute, and Tony has Jarvis takes lots and lots of pictures.

Peter is thrumming with energy as he holds Tony’s hand into the school yard, and then is off the moment a kid in the class invites him to play. He comes back, to drag Tony down for goodbye kisses, and Tony is promised by a young pretty teacher that his son is in good hands.

He cries the moment he’s alone in the car.

 

Peter loves school – he’s smart, just like Tony was, but Tony isn’t just like Howard was ( _thank fuck_ ) and so Peter can do what he likes with those smarts. He reads and he draws and asks Tony to teach him more maths. Tony does, and they spend weekends at the museum with Rhodey on his leave and Bruce when Rhodey’s gone, and Peter is quick and eager to learn.

He’s not afraid to be wrong, and he’s not afraid to be silly and Tony starts to believe he’s doing a good job. When Peter comes home and says he wants to build a robot for the future, Tony is immeasurably proud – but all the time Peter stands at his side at the lowered worktop bench, Tony is thinking away… The robot is only a kit, because Tony won’t allow Peter to be hurt the way he was, not yet not ever, but as he twists the bolts with confidence and follows the instructions with ease… bots for the future. Perhaps it’s time to change Tony’s legacy, to medicine and clean energy and all those things Tony’s considered before but been told it wasn’t his job. He can _make_ it his job.

After all, what kid wants to inherit a weapons company?

 

**

 

The pain in Tony’s chest is a burning, consuming thing. Each breath brings it to new heights, and as his breathing quickens and the panic begins, Tony wonders if it might be kinder to have died.

It’s Obadiah’s betrayal that hurts the most, the unknown facts of who might stand with him that hurt next… if his company is against him, then what has he got left? There’s Rhodey, but Tony knows he’s paid for it now, and there’s Pepper but it’s not like she isn’t paid too… Yinsen might’ve saved his body, but Tony’s fairly certain he’s beyond saving his soul. A weapons company that sells to both sides is no good karma, and Tony’s own ignorance is a blight he’ll never absolve himself off.

They waterboard him to the point where the battery in his chest delivers him electric shocks, but still he just won’t die. If he gets out of this alive, it must be for a reason – and Tony is going to find it if it kills him.

 

**

 

Peter finishing elementary happens at the normal age. Tony had driven Pepper crazy wondering if he should have let Peter skip grades, and Pepper had slapped Tony upside the head. When Peter starts to get bored in lessons, Tony gives him things to do at home, and keep Peter where he is – he benefits, undoubtedly, from company and friends his own age. He comes home each day and does his homework beside Tony in the workshop, and then they work on a project together before tea. Tony cooks most nights, and once in a while Pepper will join them – Pepper never wanted, never wants children, but she makes an exception in Peter.

High school is an entirely different battle, because earnest Peter Parker Stark is genuinely just trying to be helpful when he corrects his teachers. Ned will stand up for him when they share classes, but often Peter finds himself in detention. Thankfully he learns – via Tony saying _, teachers are idiots, Peter, but they mean well… here, correct that would you?_ and Peter laughing as he’s passed a recently published paper because _this_ _is child’s play dad, c’mon_ – and he studies hard. He joins band, and he’s on the decathlon team. He builds LEGO deathstars with Ned and laughs at Michelle’s dry wit – Tony likes that girl – and his grades are perfect in everything except gym (which Tony is never gonna judge the kid for, _gym sucks_ ).

 

Tony is just revolutionising clean energy when Peter enters the science fair, and Tony ditches two important meetings to make sure that he’s there to applaud and cheer and embarrass the fuck out of this kid that he loves – and that’s where he meets Steve.

Steve had been one of Peter’s teachers in elementary – Tony isn’t sure of which grade – but now, Tony takes some notice. He’s come to see Peter, because he’d always believed the kid was smart and he was over-joyed to see it recognised. Peter comes down to see them both, first prize pinned neatly to his chest, just as they’re introducing themselves.

“Mr Rogers!” Peter exclaims, shocked to see him. “You came!” Steve grins and holds his fist out for a fist bump which Peter dazedly accepts.

“You told me to look out for you becoming a real scientist – and when I heard you were competing I knew I couldn’t miss it.” Steve told him, honest and happily, and he’s _proud_ , proud of Tony’s son, and instead of feeling jealous or oddly protective, Tony thinks he might be in love.

 

Their first date goes _swimmingly_ , the conversation flowing from Peter to art to teaching to Stark Industries new changes; Steve doesn’t judge his past and Tony shuts his mouth about not liking art really _at all_. They share a dessert and Steve shyly takes his hand just outside the restaurant after they’ve playfully fought over the check – Steve didn’t care that Tony is a billionaire, just told him he could get the _next_ one but Steve was paying for _this_ one and he could suck it – and walks him _all the way back to Stark Tower_.

Tony sends flowers to his work the next day, and gets a hilarious series of texts about the kid’s reactions to them. Four dates more, and Tony tells Peter and Peter grins and tells him it’s about time. Time passes and Steve migrates into their lives and their home and their hearts over the years. He cooks better than Tony and draws better than them both. He’s no mathematician but he’s good at sports in a way that even _Peter_ can get better, and if Steve hadn’t been there Peter would’ve lost marks on that history test. Because of Steve and his crazy adoptive Dad’s, Peter takes French instead of Spanish and talks and talks and talks all the way up to calling Steve _Da-_

 

**

 

Tony looks through the portal as he approaches it, and wishes for more time.

More time to build a life with Pepper, to be a better friend to Rhodey – but also to get to know the team who stand below him. The stars will welcome him, and the cold will return, and Tony will have known Steve Rogers, Captain America, for all of a matter of hours. It hardly seems fair, but Tony has lived on borrowed time since his twenties, and definitely since Afghanistan.

Time, he wishes for because SI has so much to do, and still needs an heir chosen if Tony’s going to carry on risking his life and he can’t get through to Pepper and Jarvis is gone from the HUD and he’s falling and falling and hoping it works. He’ll probably never know and it’s all too late and- _fuck_ , the Hulk roars loudly.

Still got time.

Still looking for that reason.

 

**

 

Tony and Steve get married the year Peter turns fifteen. It’s a spring wedding, with only their close friends, and a few of Peter’s – Pepper cries and Natasha pretends not to, but James Barnes makes no effort to pretend he’s not sobbing into his girlfriend’s shoulder. Clint brings his family, and Phil Coulson plays a star-stuck aide to Tony’s Aunty Peggy. Peter loves his suit and hates his tie because he can’t actually tie it.

Tony and Steve cry through their vows, kiss their way through the meal and laugh through the evening (and the sex) and apologise to Peter in the form of a dog. Peter _loves_ the dog, and actually kisses both their cheeks for the first time in years he’s so excited. He walks her every day and cares for the retriever – he calls her _Karen,_ weird fucking kid – with all his attention.

Peter goes to Homecoming with the girl he’s been crushing on for over a year – she’s a senior and her father does fantastic shipping work for Tony, a family man who cares deeply about his wife and his daughter and his work. She’s perfect for Peter, even if they’re young, and Peter has this giddy, punch-drunk smile when he gets home later that evening and Tony’s so _proud_ of his boy, growing up to be an awkwardly charming, intelligent young man-

 

**

 

-whip-smart and fast to match it, and Steve’s shock is deafening in its silence as the kid lands on top of the vehicle, shield in hand. Tony knew the kid had been a long shot, but he’s impressed. Parker’s taken instantly to the new suit, and Tony’s almost looking forward to cultivating that potential but first he’s got to deal with the stubborn-ass in front of him.

Something tells him that he and Steve shouldn’t be fighting, that they could never hurt each other – but the same thing tells him that the shield Steve’s just slammed into his chest is one he can’t possibly own, so Tony doesn’t listen to it.

 

**

 

Peter spends his last two years of high-school applying for and acing university run courses because he’s _just that smart_ , and Tony is impossibly proud. Bruce is _also_ impossibly proud, and Peter’s already being offered internships that graduates would compete for. He’ll go far in whatever field of science he chooses, and sometimes Tony likes to remind Peter of that, and make the kid take a break for once.

Steve also goes back to school in those years, finally deciding to go back and get the master’s degree in Art History he’d always intended to get before his parents had fallen ill and he’d gone on to join the army. He enjoys it immensely – rediscovering a passion for art that makes Tony fall in love with him all over again. He loves his boys, his husband and son, more than words can ever express.

He buys them stupid gifts one random morning in April because he loves them and he needs them to know and actions is just how he shows it, even now.

 

**

 

Actions are all that count in a battle. Should’ve thoughts and could’ve thoughts mean little when people you know – that you fight with and live with and love – are under fire.

The Gauntlet rolls away as Thanos is blasted backwards by the combined force of the Guardians, Strange, Barnes and the Falcon, and Tony knows what he could do, should do – will do. He staggers up and away in the heavy armour, only partially online, and tells Friday to rescind his own left gauntlet, she protests but does so, and Tony Stark raises the infinity gauntlet as a fist to return to the fray.

The power of it is over-whelming, but Tony has his mission – to protect his family, at all costs. It takes him a moment to remain in his own mind, not to lose himself in the realms of possibility, but he manages it, and turns back to the battle in time to see Thanos advance again, this time heading straight towards Spiderman, sixteen-year-old Peter Parker with no job still being here and a whole life ahead of him, and Tony sees red.

He steps from the armour without thought, still wielding the gauntlet, and heads towards Thanos. “Back the fuck away from my son, you grape-faced fucker.” Tony snarls – he doesn’t know whether he intends to punch him or back hand him or simply point and _wish_ , but suddenly there’s screaming. It’s loud and piercing and yikes, the person screaming must be in no small amount of agony and- oh. That’s him screaming, he realises, as he fights with the gauntlet to make it do what he _needs_ , to make things right and not break the universe trying to give him what he _wants_ -

 

**

 

Tony wakes in a cold sweat, breathing momentarily ragged but it slowly calms. He’s not sure where the fuck that sort of nightmare came from – he’s going to have to stop watching so much Sci-Fi, maybe – but the image of Nat hugging a young Peter tightly wars with the image of a colder, harder women with lighter hair and jaded eyes. That women stands back-to-back with someone battled hardened and metal armed that Tony’s brain thinks is Bucky – but Steve’s beloved brother had simply served his tours and come home to Natasha.

Tony rolls over, shaking the image from his head, and tucks his face into his husband’s neck to sleep.

 

**

 

Tony wakes ~~in a cold sweat~~ to yelling, breathing ~~momentarily~~ ragged ~~but it slowly~~ and refusing to calm ~~s~~. He’s not sure ~~where~~ what the fuck ~~that sort of nightmare came from~~ is going on, but there’s large, calloused hands shaking him roughly, smaller – younger? – hands clinging to one of his own. He wonders if he’s still screaming but he can catch snippets of words and tries to cling to them. Dear sweet husband Steve saying “we were meant to have time” and hadn’t they had it already? “No no, Stark! Stay with me!” he calls and that’s odd, that’s wrong, Steve’s only ever called him Stark when-

Pain rockets through him again and hands clutch at him tighter and he tries hard to breathe, hearing “we need you” and “I need you”, sobbed and whispered like confessions at the altar. “Tony _please_ ,” comes like a prayer and “you can’t leave Peter” is tantamount to _begging,_ and Tony wants to give the voice what he asks for but he’s no longer sure who _is_ talking and the universe is screaming that something is so incredibly wrong.

“Tony? Tony! Tony, Tony no-“ the voices calls, but so does the universe, and he closes his eyes and lets it have him.

 

The last time Tony wakes it is for good, with the bright white ceiling of the hospital above him.

His first instinct is to cry – he’s not sure what happened after he picked up the gauntlet, unable to let Peter be taken from him, but there’s a fake set of memories trying to settle beside the real ones and his heart mourns a life he never had. He sits up, and takes in the Avengers crammed into the room on shitty plastic chairs, and his breath catches in his throat. The first tears burn down his cheeks, sob torn from his chest without permission, and the second is choked off as he tries to stop, the third lost as a chair screeches across the hospital floor. Tony finds himself pulled against a hard chest, and he grips the shirt tightly, uncaring whose hands it is that hold him close.

“You’re okay, Tony, _god_ , you’re alright, we’re all going to be alright.” Steve is whispering into his hair and Tony wants more than anything to believe it – someone else in the room seems to wake, and then there’s weight on the other side of him where he’s sat up in the bed, and thin, strong arms wrap around his waist from behind. “I thought we lost you.” Steve murmurs, kissing the top of his head as Peter cries into the back of his head.

People squeeze Tony’s shoulder as they wander past – walking sleepily and grinning to see Tony alive even if his heart is breaking – and soon it’s just Tony, Steve and Peter left in the hospital room. Tony wants to ask what happened, understand what it is that he did, but when Steve pulls away – newly shaved, in a simple shirt and sweatpants though his hair still hangs about his ears – he’s distracted by the _love_ that he can see there. “I- Steve?”

“We all saw what you dreamt, Tony.” Steve tells him softly, one hand now cradling the back of Tony’s head, but the other is rubbing slowly – a comfort – up and down on Peter’s arm. “And I- probably should have mentioned, I-“ Steve swallows, and drops his gaze for a moment. He makes sure to look up to continue though, and let Tony see the truth in his eyes. “I’ve loved up since you flew that damn bomb into space. Though I guess I took a while to work it out.”

Tony blinks. Hard. Before he can respond though, Peter squeezes his waist again, and mumbles something into his shoulder. Tony, despite the ache in his shoulder, reaches back to try and pull the kid where he can see him. “Speak up, Petey.” He tells him, the nickname slipping off his tongue for the first time like he’s said it hundreds of times before, and Peter shifts to be hugging him side on with a tired, tear-filled smile.

“You called me your son.” Peter replies softly, and Tony knows that he’s thinking of Aunt May – Aunt May who he wonders if they’ve found while he’s be down for the count, if they’ve had the funeral… “I- I wouldn’t mind holding you to that.” He’s only half joking, and it comes out too weak, and Tony tugs the kid – still so unbearably young – down so he can kiss the top of his head. It feels natural, easy, even if it’s new.

“I think we can do that.” Tony says, hugging him tighter and looking up to meet to Steve’s smile. “We can do that.”

**Author's Note:**

> There will be more fics in this series detailing the aftermath, and y'all are more than welcome to drop ideas in! 
> 
> As always, you can find me at my **[tumblr](http://thecitylightshow.tumblr.com/)**!! Y'all should come and talk to me, about pretty much anything in the marvel verse; I am ready and willing. Laters lovelies!


End file.
